Trial date set in attorney drug death

Court officials have scheduled the trial dates for an East Jordan man accused of providing a local attorney with a lethal dose of a painkiller last year.

Ryan Matthew Fisher, 29, is scheduled to face a five-day jury trial beginning on Jan. 7 on a charge of delivery of a controlled substance causing death.

The charge, which is punishable by up to life in prison, stems from the June 26, 2006, death of Petoskey-area attorney Greg Justis. On that day Justis, 55, was found unresponsive in a car parked just outside the Emmet County Building. Attempts to revive Justis by emergency crews at the scene and doctors at Northern Michigan Hospital were unsuccessful.

The Emmet County medical examiner has since ruled that Justis' death was a result of an overdose of the powerful painkiller fentanyl.

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In court documents police cite associates of Fisher's who say he admitted to giving Justis the drugs that authorities say caused his death.

Fisher was bound over to face trial following a recent preliminary examination in the case.

The cut off for a plea agreement in the case has been set for Dec. 3. Fisher, who remains jailed in lieu of a $100,000 bond, is represented by defense attorney Mary Beth Kur.